The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may or may not constitute prior art.
A typical dual input multiple speed transmission has a first input shaft and a second input shaft that is a hollow sleeve shaft that is concentric with the first input shaft. The first and second input shafts are selectively coupled to the engine crankshaft through a dual clutch. The dual or twin clutch has two independent clutch units that are each separately rotationally fixed to one of the input shafts. The clutch units include friction elements that are axially compressed against friction elements that are ultimately rotationally fixed to the crankshaft. A dual clutch actuation device generates the apply force necessary to axially compress the friction elements and rotationally couple the input shafts with the crankshaft.
While current dual clutch actuation devices achieve their intended purpose, the need for new and improved configurations which exhibit improved performance, is essentially constant. For example, one problem not addressed by the prior art is the contamination of the actuation device by particles generated by the wearing of the friction elements of the dual clutch. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a dual clutch actuation device having improved packaging while providing a mechanism to reduce or eliminate contamination of the actuation device.